Dear Kalam Sir: Anthology of handwritten postcards to APJ Abdul Kalam turned into a book

Dear Kalam Sir: Anthology of handwritten postcards to APJ Abdul Kalam turned into a book

Updated on July 27, 2016 4:46 pm

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Last year, LetterFarms a Kochi-based NGO hit upon a unique idea to pay tribute to the late Missile Man of India with an art project, inviting people to pen handwritten postcards expressing their sentiments about the late President on his 84th birth anniversary. The aim of the campaign 'dearkalamsir' was to create an anthology of postcards. The response to the project was so huge that today on his first death anniversary Bloomsbury India and Letterfarms launched the book 'Dear Kalam Sir', weaving together a vivid storyline of Dr Kalam’s life from the huge piles of postcards sent by people from diverse backgrounds from over 200 cities.

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Inspired by Dr Kalam’s exemplary life and words, it delves into the dreams and aspirations of contemporary India, especially the youth, uniquely handcrafted with a humane touch.

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Underlining the extraordinary power that lies with ordinary people, this book is a first-of-its-kind anthology of handwritten postcard tributes for a public leader, ever. The messages are filled with endearing sentiments and echo India’s profound love for Dr Kalam and its unparalleled unity.

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it is all set to be the world's largest handwritten postcard tribute campaign and underlines never-seen- before powerful, passionate and personal tributes by common people from across all age groups and social strata for Kalam.

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Approximately 350 postcards made it into this book; handpicked from thousands that continue to pour into the office of Kochi-based NGO LetterFarms every week.

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Co-founder of LetterFarms and co-author, Saji Mathew, says, “One of the most fascinating features of Dear Kalam Sir book is how we could unearth and weave together a vivid storyline of Dr Kalam’s life from the huge pile of postcards by people from diverse backgrounds from over 200 cities. Through a simple yet compelling brief ‘postcard is your canvas and sky is your canvas’ LetterFarms demonstrated how people drew inspiration from every stage of Kalam Sir’s life.”

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Co-author, Jubie John says, “We all know that Dr Abdul Kalam continues to trigger the dreams and aspirations of young India even today. The Dear Kalam Sir book is perhaps the first attempt till date that tries to understand that aspect in greater detail and what we saw was un-paralleled for any leader India has seen till date. Handwritten postcards that talk of how there is a Kalam in every child, and a whole bunch of cards that talk about Kalam being the next Father of the Nation. It just goes to prove how the Kalam phenomenon; continues to grow to unimaginable levels despite his absence.”

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With a compelling foreword penned by Dr Shashi Tharoor and a heart-touching preface by NR Narayana Murthy, Indians pay the most unique tribute to Dr Kalam through this carefully curated book of handwritten, heartfelt postcards.